Greene County attorney disbarred after being charged with theft
A Greene County attorney and courthouse employee accused of taking $22,000 in retaining fees from a fellow lawyer is being disbarred.
Kimberly Simon-Pratt notified the state’s Disciplinary Board recently that she intended to resign, prompting the state Supreme Court to file a two-sentence order Wednesday that she will be disbarred as an attorney in Pennsylvania effective March 17.
Simon-Pratt, 56, of Cumberland Township, is facing multiple counts of theft after she was accused of taking funds meant for another attorney in her law office, along with additional money that was supposed to be deposited in the state’s Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account.
Attorney Jessica Phillips worked for Simon-Pratt’s law firm in Waynesburg before leaving in March and later reporting the alleged theft to the Greene County district attorney office’s detectives on April 28. According to court documents, Phillips was still owed $22,213 in retainer fees from 27 clients, while additional money meant for the state’s IOLTA fund was also missing.
Court documents indicated the state’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel was also contacted about the situation, although there were no formal proceedings against her. Her decision to voluntarily resign after being charged Nov. 29 appears to have spared her from undergoing public disciplinary proceedings by the board. Simon-Pratt was admitted to the bar in 1991, according to online records.
In addition to being an attorney, Simon-Pratt also was serving as the custody, dependency and juvenile hearing officer in the Greene County Courthouse when the charges were filed. Simon-Pratt had worked in a part-time role in the courthouse since 2013, but was brought in on a full-time basis in April. Courthouse officials said Wednesday she is suspended pending the outcome of her case, although it was unclear how her impending ouster as an attorney could affect her position.
Simon-Pratt ran in 2021 as a cross-filed candidate for Court of Common Pleas judge in Greene County, but lost in the primary.
Simon-Pratt is free on bond while facing multiple felony charges of theft and criminal mischief, along with misdemeanor counts of misapplying government funds. She has a plea hearing at the Greene County Courthouse tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. May 9 before President Judge Lou Dayich. Neither Simon-Pratt nor her defense attorney, Chris Blackwell, could be reached for comment Wednesday.